Hello. I cannot receive files via Bluetooth - receive don't start
(but sending file works normal).
Erros in syslog:

Dec  8 21:38:49 debian-gateway dbus-daemon[743]: [session uid=1001 pid=743 pidfd=5] Activating via systemd: service name='org.blueman.Applet' unit='blueman-applet.service' requested by ':1.149' (uid=1001 pid=6392 comm="/usr/bin/python3 /usr/bin/blueman-manager" label="unconfined")
Dec  8 21:38:49 debian-gateway systemd[722]: Starting blueman-applet.service - Bluetooth management applet...
Dec  8 21:38:52 debian-gateway dbus-daemon[743]: [session uid=1001 pid=743 pidfd=5] Successfully activated service 'org.blueman.Applet'
Dec  8 21:38:52 debian-gateway systemd[722]: Started blueman-applet.service - Bluetooth management applet.
Dec  8 21:38:52 debian-gateway dbus-daemon[743]: [session uid=1001 pid=743 pidfd=5] Activating via systemd: service name='org.bluez.obex' unit='obex.service' requested by ':1.150' (uid=1001 pid=6402 comm="/usr/bin/python3 /usr/bin/blueman-applet" label="unconfined")
Dec  8 21:38:52 debian-gateway systemd[722]: Starting obex.service - Bluetooth OBEX service...
Dec  8 21:38:52 debian-gateway obexd[6410]: OBEX daemon 5.82
Dec  8 21:38:52 debian-gateway dbus-daemon[743]: [session uid=1001 pid=743 pidfd=5] Successfully activated service 'org.bluez.obex'
Dec  8 21:38:52 debian-gateway dbus-daemon[743]: [session uid=1001 pid=743 pidfd=5] Activating via systemd: service name='org.gnome.evolution.dataserver.Sources5' unit='evolution-source-registry.service' requested by ':1.152' (uid=1001 pid=6410 comm="/usr/libexec/bluetooth/obexd" label="unconfined")
Dec  8 21:38:53 debian-gateway systemd[722]: Started obex.service - Bluetooth OBEX service.
Dec  8 21:38:53 debian-gateway dbus-daemon[743]: [session uid=1001 pid=743 pidfd=5] Activation via systemd failed for unit 'evolution-source-registry.service': Unit evolution-source-registry.service not found.
Dec  8 21:38:53 debian-gateway obexd[6410]: Unable to acquire registry: Error calling StartServiceByName for org.gnome.evolution.dataserver.Sources5: Unit evolution-source-registry.service not found.
Dec  8 21:38:53 debian-gateway dbus-daemon[743]: [session uid=1001 pid=743 pidfd=5] Activating via systemd: service name='org.gnome.evolution.dataserver.Sources5' unit='evolution-source-registry.service' requested by ':1.152' (uid=1001 pid=6410 comm="/usr/libexec/bluetooth/obexd" label="unconfined")
Dec  8 21:38:53 debian-gateway dbus-daemon[743]: [session uid=1001 pid=743 pidfd=5] Activation via systemd failed for unit 'evolution-source-registry.service': Unit evolution-source-registry.service not found.
Dec  8 21:38:53 debian-gateway obexd[6410]: Unable to acquire registry: Error calling StartServiceByName for org.gnome.evolution.dataserver.Sources5: Unit evolution-source-registry.service not found.

evolution-source-registry.service founds in package
evolution-data-server. This package not installed (and I do not want to
install it).
evolution-source-registry.service required out of file
/usr/share/dbus-1/services/org.gnome.evolution.dataserver.Sources5.service
which founds in package evolution-data-server-common

bluez-obexd depends on
libebook-1.2-21t64 (>= 3.17), libebook-contacts-1.2-4t64 (>= 3.16.2),
libedataserver-1.2-27t64 (>= 3.17)
which depends on evolution-data-server-common.

After deleting file
/usr/share/dbus-1/services/org.gnome.evolution.dataserver.Sources5.service
and rebooting I can receive files via Bluetooth again.
I found some erros in syslog, but seems it not prevent to receive files.

Dec 15 20:41:47 debian-gateway dbus-daemon[798]: [session uid=1001 pid=798 pidfd=5] Activating via systemd: service name='org.blueman.Applet' unit='blueman-applet.service' requested by ':1.73' (uid=1001 pid=3719 comm="/usr/bin/python3 /usr/bin/blueman-manager" label="unconfined")
Dec 15 20:41:47 debian-gateway systemd[772]: Starting blueman-applet.service - Bluetooth management applet...
Dec 15 20:41:49 debian-gateway dbus-daemon[798]: [session uid=1001 pid=798 pidfd=5] Successfully activated service 'org.blueman.Applet'
Dec 15 20:41:49 debian-gateway systemd[772]: Started blueman-applet.service - Bluetooth management applet.
Dec 15 20:41:49 debian-gateway dbus-daemon[798]: [session uid=1001 pid=798 pidfd=5] Activating via systemd: service name='org.bluez.obex' unit='obex.service' requested by ':1.74' (uid=1001 pid=3726 comm="/usr/bin/python3 /usr/bin/blueman-applet" label="unconfined")
Dec 15 20:41:49 debian-gateway systemd[772]: Starting obex.service - Bluetooth OBEX service...
Dec 15 20:41:50 debian-gateway obexd[3733]: OBEX daemon 5.84
Dec 15 20:41:50 debian-gateway dbus-daemon[798]: [session uid=1001 pid=798 pidfd=5] Successfully activated service 'org.bluez.obex'
Dec 15 20:41:50 debian-gateway systemd[772]: Started obex.service - Bluetooth OBEX service.
Dec 15 20:41:50 debian-gateway obexd[3733]: e_source_registry_ref_builtin_address_book: assertion 'source != NULL' failed
Dec 15 20:41:50 debian-gateway obexd[3733]: e_source_registry_ref_default_address_book: assertion 'E_IS_SOURCE (source)' failed
Dec 15 20:41:50 debian-gateway obexd[3733]: Unable to get reference to default address book
Dec 15 20:41:50 debian-gateway obexd[3733]: e_source_registry_ref_builtin_address_book: assertion 'source != NULL' failed
Dec 15 20:41:50 debian-gateway obexd[3733]: Unable to get reference to default address book
Dec 15 20:41:50 debian-gateway obexd[3733]: e_source_registry_ref_default_address_book: assertion 'E_IS_SOURCE (source)' failed

Dear Maintainer,

I can confirm this bugreport.  I spent a while today trying to receive a file
from an Android phone on my Debian forky install with bluez-obexd 5.84-1 in
use.  The OBEX Object Push profile did not appear to be advertised by the
Debian system.

Inspecting the obexd.service logs uncovered the following logs:

  Jan 04 12:18:38 laptop dbus-daemon[1305]: [session uid=1000 pid=1305 pidfd=5] Activating via systemd: service name='org.gnome.evolution.dataserver.Sources5' unit='evolution-source-registry.service' requested by ':1.91' (uid=>
  Jan 04 12:18:38 laptop dbus-daemon[1305]: [session uid=1000 pid=1305 pidfd=5] Activation via systemd failed for unit 'evolution-source-registry.service': Unit evolution-source-registry.service not found.
  Jan 04 12:18:38 laptop obexd[5677]: Unable to acquire registry: Error calling StartServiceByName for org.gnome.evolution.dataserver.Sources5: Unit evolution-source-registry.service not found.


Despite the large dependency-set it requires, I installed evolution-data-server
because it provides the evolution-source-registry.service file, and then I
began a new user session.

With the dependency installed, the OBEX Object Push profile was advertised by
the Debian system from the new user session, the system became visible for the
Android device as a file push destination, and I was able to transfer files
over bluetooth.

Thanks,
James

I think that the issue relates to the PBAP plugin in the upstream codebase.

As a workaround, I was able to run the obexd daemon from the command-line with
the PBAP plugin disabled -- and this allowed file push from the Android device
without installation of evolution-data-server:

  $ /usr/libexec/bluetooth/obexd --noplugin pbap --debug -n

(I don't recommend this for regular usage; it is primarily a note to help
tracing where the issue occurs)

Package: bluez-obexd
Version: 5.84-1
Followup-For: Bug #1123793

It seems I was mistaken about this; the existing system-level evolution data
server daemon was still running, despite the fact that I had uninstalled the
package.

Disabling the pbap plugin removes one attempt to initialise the phonebook via
evolution -- but one other activation attempt occurs, too, and from initial
inspection I think that this is an unconditional part of the client manager
startup code (e.g. it cannot be disabled from the commandline).

We believe that the bug you reported is fixed in the latest version of
bluez, which is due to be installed in the Debian FTP archive.

A summary of the changes between this version and the previous one is
attached.

Thank you for reporting the bug, which will now be closed.  If you
have further comments please address them to 1123793@bugs.debian.org,
and the maintainer will reopen the bug report if appropriate.

Debian distribution maintenance software
pp.
Jeremy Bícha <jbicha@ubuntu.com> (supplier of updated bluez package)

(This message was generated automatically at their request; if you
believe that there is a problem with it please contact the archive
administrators by mailing ftpmaster@ftp-master.debian.org)
Format: 1.8
Date: Mon, 05 Jan 2026 08:53:20 -0500
Source: bluez
Built-For-Profiles: noudeb
Architecture: source
Version: 5.85-2
Distribution: unstable
Urgency: medium
Maintainer: Debian Bluetooth Maintainers <team+pkg-bluetooth@tracker.debian.org>
Changed-By: Jeremy Bícha <jbicha@ubuntu.com>
Closes: 803265 1123793
Changes:
 bluez (5.85-2) unstable; urgency=medium
 .
   * Team upload
   * Add Depends: evolution-data-server (Closes: #1123793)
   * Don't enable SIM Access Profile feature (Closes: #803265)
   * Revert "Don't build evolution-data-server backend feature on loong64"
   * Add Multi-Arch: foreign to packages as recommended by the Multiarch hinter
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On Sun, 21 Dec 2025 22:20:16 +0400  =?UTF-8?B?0L/RgNC+0LPRgNCw0LzQvNC40YHRgiDQvdC10LrRgtC+?= wrote:
 > Package: bluez-obexd
 > Version: 5.84-1
 > Severity: grave
 >
 > Hello. I cannot receive files via Bluetooth - receive don't start
 > (but sending file works normal).
 > Erros in syslog:
 >
 > Dec 8 21:38:49 debian-gateway dbus-daemon[743]: [session uid=1001
pid=743 pidfd=5] Activating via systemd: service
name='org.blueman.Applet' unit='blueman-applet.service' requested by
':1.149' (uid=1001 pid=6392 comm="/usr/bin/python3
/usr/bin/blueman-manager" label="unconfined")
 > Dec 8 21:38:49 debian-gateway systemd[722]: Starting
blueman-applet.service - Bluetooth management applet...
 > Dec 8 21:38:52 debian-gateway dbus-daemon[743]: [session uid=1001
pid=743 pidfd=5] Successfully activated service 'org.blueman.Applet'
 > Dec 8 21:38:52 debian-gateway systemd[722]: Started
blueman-applet.service - Bluetooth management applet.
 > Dec 8 21:38:52 debian-gateway dbus-daemon[743]: [session uid=1001
pid=743 pidfd=5] Activating via systemd: service name='org.bluez.obex'
unit='obex.service' requested by ':1.150' (uid=1001 pid=6402
comm="/usr/bin/python3 /usr/bin/blueman-applet" label="unconfined")
 > Dec 8 21:38:52 debian-gateway systemd[722]: Starting obex.service -
Bluetooth OBEX service...
 > Dec 8 21:38:52 debian-gateway obexd[6410]: OBEX daemon 5.82
 > Dec 8 21:38:52 debian-gateway dbus-daemon[743]: [session uid=1001
pid=743 pidfd=5] Successfully activated service 'org.bluez.obex'
 > Dec 8 21:38:52 debian-gateway dbus-daemon[743]: [session uid=1001
pid=743 pidfd=5] Activating via systemd: service
name='org.gnome.evolution.dataserver.Sources5'
unit='evolution-source-registry.service' requested by ':1.152' (uid=1001
pid=6410 comm="/usr/libexec/bluetooth/obexd" label="unconfined")
 > Dec 8 21:38:53 debian-gateway systemd[722]: Started obex.service -
Bluetooth OBEX service.
 > Dec 8 21:38:53 debian-gateway dbus-daemon[743]: [session uid=1001
pid=743 pidfd=5] Activation via systemd failed for unit
'evolution-source-registry.service': Unit
evolution-source-registry.service not found.
 > Dec 8 21:38:53 debian-gateway obexd[6410]: Unable to acquire
registry: Error calling StartServiceByName for
org.gnome.evolution.dataserver.Sources5: Unit
evolution-source-registry.service not found.
 > Dec 8 21:38:53 debian-gateway dbus-daemon[743]: [session uid=1001
pid=743 pidfd=5] Activating via systemd: service
name='org.gnome.evolution.dataserver.Sources5'
unit='evolution-source-registry.service' requested by ':1.152' (uid=1001
pid=6410 comm="/usr/libexec/bluetooth/obexd" label="unconfined")
 > Dec 8 21:38:53 debian-gateway dbus-daemon[743]: [session uid=1001
pid=743 pidfd=5] Activation via systemd failed for unit
'evolution-source-registry.service': Unit
evolution-source-registry.service not found.
 > Dec 8 21:38:53 debian-gateway obexd[6410]: Unable to acquire
registry: Error calling StartServiceByName for
org.gnome.evolution.dataserver.Sources5: Unit
evolution-source-registry.service not found.
 >
 > evolution-source-registry.service founds in package
 > evolution-data-server. This package not installed (and I do not want to
 > install it).
 > evolution-source-registry.service required out of file
 >
/usr/share/dbus-1/services/org.gnome.evolution.dataserver.Sources5.service
 > which founds in package evolution-data-server-common
 >
 > bluez-obexd depends on
 > libebook-1.2-21t64 (>= 3.17), libebook-contacts-1.2-4t64 (>= 3.16.2),
 > libedataserver-1.2-27t64 (>= 3.17)
 > which depends on evolution-data-server-common.
 >
 > After deleting file
 >
/usr/share/dbus-1/services/org.gnome.evolution.dataserver.Sources5.service
 > and rebooting I can receive files via Bluetooth again.
 > I found some erros in syslog, but seems it not prevent to receive files.
 >
 > Dec 15 20:41:47 debian-gateway dbus-daemon[798]: [session uid=1001
pid=798 pidfd=5] Activating via systemd: service
name='org.blueman.Applet' unit='blueman-applet.service' requested by
':1.73' (uid=1001 pid=3719 comm="/usr/bin/python3
/usr/bin/blueman-manager" label="unconfined")
 > Dec 15 20:41:47 debian-gateway systemd[772]: Starting
blueman-applet.service - Bluetooth management applet...
 > Dec 15 20:41:49 debian-gateway dbus-daemon[798]: [session uid=1001
pid=798 pidfd=5] Successfully activated service 'org.blueman.Applet'
 > Dec 15 20:41:49 debian-gateway systemd[772]: Started
blueman-applet.service - Bluetooth management applet.
 > Dec 15 20:41:49 debian-gateway dbus-daemon[798]: [session uid=1001
pid=798 pidfd=5] Activating via systemd: service name='org.bluez.obex'
unit='obex.service' requested by ':1.74' (uid=1001 pid=3726
comm="/usr/bin/python3 /usr/bin/blueman-applet" label="unconfined")
 > Dec 15 20:41:49 debian-gateway systemd[772]: Starting obex.service -
Bluetooth OBEX service...
 > Dec 15 20:41:50 debian-gateway obexd[3733]: OBEX daemon 5.84
 > Dec 15 20:41:50 debian-gateway dbus-daemon[798]: [session uid=1001
pid=798 pidfd=5] Successfully activated service 'org.bluez.obex'
 > Dec 15 20:41:50 debian-gateway systemd[772]: Started obex.service -
Bluetooth OBEX service.
 > Dec 15 20:41:50 debian-gateway obexd[3733]:
e_source_registry_ref_builtin_address_book: assertion 'source != NULL'
failed
 > Dec 15 20:41:50 debian-gateway obexd[3733]:
e_source_registry_ref_default_address_book: assertion 'E_IS_SOURCE
(source)' failed
 > Dec 15 20:41:50 debian-gateway obexd[3733]: Unable to get reference
to default address book
 > Dec 15 20:41:50 debian-gateway obexd[3733]:
e_source_registry_ref_builtin_address_book: assertion 'source != NULL'
failed
 > Dec 15 20:41:50 debian-gateway obexd[3733]: Unable to get reference
to default address book
 > Dec 15 20:41:50 debian-gateway obexd[3733]:
e_source_registry_ref_default_address_book: assertion 'E_IS_SOURCE
(source)' failed
 >

 >

Hi,

upgrade bluez from 5.85-1 to 5.85-2 add 35 dependencies :

evolution-data-server  libedataserverui-1.2-4t64  libgoa-1.0-common
  libjavascriptcoregtk-4.1-0
   gcr                           libenchant-2-2  libgraphene-1.0-0   
  libmanette-0.2-0
   gcr4                          libgck-1-0  libgstreamer-gl1.0-0 
libwebkit2gtk-4.1-0
   geocode-glib-common           libgck-2-2  libgtk-4-1            libwoff1
   gnome-keyring                 libgcr-4-4  libgtk-4-common       p11-kit
   libcairo-script-interpreter2  libgcr-base-3-1 libgweather-4-0t64   
p11-kit-modules
   libcanberra-gtk3-0            libgcr-ui-3-1 libgweather-4-common 
pinentry-gnome3
   libecal-2.0-3                 libgeocode-glib-2-0 libhidapi-hidraw0 
    xdg-dbus-proxy
   libedata-cal-2.0-2t64         libgoa-1.0-0b libical3t64

I don't need evolution or gnome … evolution-data-server shoud be
suggested rather than a dependency.

Thanks

Jerome

Thank you for your reply. I am moving the dependency from bluez to
bluez-obexd in 5.85-3.

Jeremy Bícha

Please just make it a recommends. bluez-obexd is a dependency of
bluedevil, and I'm guessing most KDE users don't want all the
evolution/GNOME baggage. Thanks

Hello,

It wasn't previously, and I don't think it should be, necesary to read
the user's Evolution contacts in order to receive a file from a local
bluetooth peer (my understanding is that a file-receive operation
requires an explicit approval in the GNOME bluetooth settings and
blueman interfaces, unless the peer has already been marked as
trusted).

I'm not certain when the runtime dependency (regardless of Debian
package dependency markers) on Evolution became effectively required,
but I think that the following commit that landed in bluez upstream in
July Y2021, first included in release v5.61, may be when the behaviour
changed: https://github.com/bluez/bluez/commit/bdeaad3fa02825e32f2fb52ba2fee0dece856f60

I'd like to suggest considering this bug for re-opening, and to
mention it to the PkgPrivacyMaintainers[1] team.

I have not found time yet, but I think it would be feasible to adjust
the error handling and/or phonebook-ebook service code so that a
failure to find or start the contactbook service does not prevent
obexd from advertising the Object Push Profile.

Regards,
James

[1] - https://wiki.debian.org/Teams/PkgPrivacyMaintainers

Hi,

as kde/plasma user using debian/sid I don't need all the gnome and
evoöution-data-server software.

--------------------------------------
LANG=C apt -s full-upgrade

Upgrading:
  bluez-obexd

Installing dependencies:
  evolution-data-server  gnome-keyring-pkcs11
   libedataserverui-1.2-4t64  libgweather-4-common
  geocode-glib-common    libecal-2.0-3          libgeocode-glib-2-0
        libpam-gnome-keyring
  gnome-keyring          libedata-cal-2.0-2t64  libgweather-4-0t64

Suggested packages:
  evolution

Not upgrading:
  partitionmanager  solaar

------------------------------------
apt install -s bluez-obexd --no-install-recommends

Upgrading:
  bluez-obexd

Installing dependencies:
  evolution-data-server  gnome-keyring  libedata-cal-2.0-2t64
      libgeocode-glib-2-0  libgweather-4-common
  geocode-glib-common    libecal-2.0-3  libedataserverui-1.2-4t64
  libgweather-4-0t64

Suggested packages:
  evolution

Recommended packages:
  gnome-keyring-pkcs11  libpam-gnome-keyring

------------------------------------

apt depends bluez-obexd
bluez-obexd
  Depends: init-system-helpers (>= 1.52)
  Depends: libc6 (>= 2.38)
  Depends: libdbus-1-3 (>= 1.10)
  Depends: libebook-1.2-21t64 (>= 3.17)
  Depends: libebook-contacts-1.2-4t64 (>= 3.16.2)
  Depends: libedataserver-1.2-27t64 (>= 3.17)
  Depends: libglib2.0-0t64 (>= 2.78.0)
  Depends: libsystemd0
  Depends: evolution-data-server
  Recommends: dbus-user-session

-----------------------------------

So please change that to recommend because bluedevil needs blues-obexd
also, so it can't be removed.

I have to run "apt full-upgrade evolution-data-server- gnome-keyring-",
but this isn't a solution, it is a bad workaround for a short time!

I'm reverting this change because it annoyed people working with KDE
Plasma. More details at https://bugs.debian.org/1124744

I haven't had time to test the described issue more thoroughly so it
seems better to go back to how things are in Debian 13.

Thank you,
Jeremy Bícha

Hi,

I'm quite sure the core of the issue is as I described here:
https://bugs.debian.org/1087689#5 :

  IMO bluez/bluez-obexd should be DE agnostic.
  I can see the value of having phone book/evolution integration being
  available, but that should be optional via D-Bus or a plugin system.

  A quick scan through upstream's ``configure.ac`` seems to indicate that
  the ebook (confusing name for evolution's phone book) plugin seems to be
  a *plugin*. Any plugin should be optional by definition.

(I closed the bug because I got frustrated, not because it was resolved)

The dependency problems started with MR: "Use ebook phonebook plugin"
https://salsa.debian.org/bluetooth-team/bluez/-/merge_requests/6 resulting in
https://salsa.debian.org/bluetooth-team/bluez/-/commit/e6d102cf2cff

Upstream added support for **external** plugins in this commit:
2a5c9cf632e6 ("configure, README: introduce --enable-external-plugins")

Found via ``git blame -L418,426 configure.ac``.

```sh
diederik@bagend:~/dev/kernel.org/bluez$ git log -1 2a5c9cf632
commit 2a5c9cf632e65b9935ae3bcb7a3dc92b1d580b30
Author: Emil Velikov <emil.velikov@collabora.com>
Date:   Thu Jan 25 00:07:26 2024 +0000

    configure, README: introduce --enable-external-plugins

    As the README chunk says, disabled by default, since they rely on
    internal API/ABI and can break at any point.

    Instead everyone affected should work and upstream their plugin into the
    bluez project.
```

Further down ``configure.ac`` you can find the following:

```sh
diederik@bagend:~/dev/kernel.org/bluez$ git blame -L502,513 configure.ac
ac33d95d29 (Luiz Augusto von Dentz 2022-01-05 14:02:05 -0800 502) AC_ARG_WITH([phonebook], AS_HELP_STRING([--with-phonebook=PLUGIN],
70807e8ff2 (Luiz Augusto von Dentz 2021-10-26 10:54:12 -0700 503)                       [obexd phonebook plugin (default=dummy)]),
70807e8ff2 (Luiz Augusto von Dentz 2021-10-26 10:54:12 -0700 504)                       [plugin_phonebook=${withval}])
b1c73f4d4c (Juho Hamalainen        2021-07-23 15:58:22 +0200 505) if (test -z "${plugin_phonebook}"); then
b1c73f4d4c (Juho Hamalainen        2021-07-23 15:58:22 +0200 506)       plugin_phonebook=dummy
b1c73f4d4c (Juho Hamalainen        2021-07-23 15:58:22 +0200 507) fi
edb86e5e01 (Dylan Van Assche       2021-07-23 15:58:23 +0200 508)
edb86e5e01 (Dylan Van Assche       2021-07-23 15:58:23 +0200 509) if (test "${plugin_phonebook}" = "ebook"); then
c07fb1fcdd (Emil Velikov           2024-01-16 13:51:56 +0000 510)       PKG_CHECK_MODULES(LIBEBOOK, libebook-1.2 >= 3.3)
c07fb1fcdd (Emil Velikov           2024-01-16 13:51:56 +0000 511)       PKG_CHECK_MODULES(LIBEDATESERVER, libedataserver-1.2 >= 3.3)
edb86e5e01 (Dylan Van Assche       2021-07-23 15:58:23 +0200 512) fi
b1c73f4d4c (Juho Hamalainen        2021-07-23 15:58:22 +0200 513) AC_SUBST(PLUGIN_PHONEBOOK, [${plugin_phonebook}])
```

By enabling the 'ebook' (=Evolution Phone Book), you now get this:

```sh
root@bagend:~# aptitude show bluez-obexd | grep Depends
Depends: libc6 (>= 2.38), libdbus-1-3 (>= 1.10), libebook-1.2-21t64 (>= 3.17),
         libebook-contacts-1.2-4t64 (>= 3.16.2), libedataserver-1.2-27t64 (>= 3.17),
	 libglib2.0-0t64 (>= 2.78.0), libsystemd0
```

I haven't verified it, but I'm pretty sure the 'ebook' plugin added:
```libebook-1.2-21t64``, ``libebook-contacts-1.2-4t64`` and
``libedataserver-1.2-27t64`` as *Dependencies* of bluez-obexd.

And those in turn bring in a whole lot of other GNOME stuff, which people
who don't use GNOME don't want to have.

So build the **external** plugins, like 'ebook', in additional packages
so that bluez-obexd itself doesn't depend on them, and that should
resolve all the issues.
I'm fine if they're Recommended or Suggested (seems more appropriate) as
that gives people who don't want them the option to NOT install them.

HTH,
  Diederik